Former President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd over 1,000 people at a June 28 rally in Chesapeake, Virginia. (Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
CHESAPEAKE — “We win Virginia, and the race is over,” former president Donald Trump told a crowd of more than a thousand at Historic Greenbrier Farms in Chesapeake on Friday.
He and opponent President Joe Biden each held rallies following their debate the night before. Biden held one in Raleigh, North Carolina earlier in the day.
In a roughly hour and a half-long speech, Trump took several victory laps for not entering America into new wars and pressing Congress to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 during his first term.
Trump made several factually inaccurate statements during his remarks. One example was his false claim that in 2020, protesters in Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis were “ripping people apart and killing people” during demonstrations that roiled the nation after a Black man, George Floyd, was killed by a white police officer.
With border security still a key issue for Trump in this election, he alleged without proof that other countries are releasing droves of people from prisons and mental institutions to come into America.
Before the former president took the stage, the gathering had a county fair vibe, but Trump-themed. Attendees milled about, perused Trump merchandise, and visited food trucks in a large field on Historic Greenbrier Farms.
Chesapeake resident Renee Cobb said she’s not been particularly pleased by either presidential candidate and that this presidential election feels like picking between the “lesser of two-evils.”
Policy-wise, she gravitates Republican, so attending the rally was a way for her to hear directly from Trump more about his plans should he be elected.
“He really skirted a lot of questions that I would have been interested in,” Cobb said of the debate the night prior.
Cobb described the debate as a “s— show” for both candidates, though she thinks it went worse for Biden. The president, age 81, spoke in a voice that was often soft and raspy, stumbled over his words at points, and appeared to lose his train of thought a few times. A June Gallup poll found the American voters surveyed “are nearly twice as likely to say Biden is too old to be president (67%) as say this about Trump (37%).”
“My biggest thing from the debate last night was that the Democrats are even saying Biden isn’t fit,” Cobb said.
Trump played into those impressions throughout his speech Friday, taking jabs at Biden and often calling him “Crooked Biden” and “Sleepy Biden.”
Meanwhile, Rich Vanderford’s vote for Trump has never been in question. The North Carolina resident drove to Chesapeake on Friday to attend the Trump rally.
He said that he’s been frustrated with the rising cost of living and inflation in recent years and hopes that Trump will be able to help alleviate that. He also supports Trump’s plans for tighter U.S.-Mexico border security and the former president’s more assertive stance when engaging with foreign governments.
“I feel like World War III is right around the corner,” he said of international conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war and tensions between Israel and Hamas, which governs Gaza in the West Bank.
Trump mentioned that he’s the only “competent” candidate that can prevent that, saying he wants America to have defense systems similar to Israel’s dome.
Former President Donald Trump shakes hands with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin at a rally in Chesapeake, June 28, 2024. (Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
Speakers at the event included Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, GOP U.S. Senate nominee Hung Cao, former Republican governors Bob McDonnell and George Allen and U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans, who represents the second congressional district.
Youngkin, who endorsed Trump in March, said “Joe Biden’s path to retirement runs through Hampton Roads.”
Kiggans’ race against Democratic challenger Missy Cotter Smasal could likely be close by November, as the Virginia Beach-anchored district often oscillates between partisan control.
“What we saw last night was elder abuse,” Kiggans said Friday afternoon of Biden’s performance in the presidential debate.
Smasal’s campaign is buffeted by investments from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and potential next Speaker of the House, Hakeem Jeffries, has endorsed her.
The Democratic Party of Virginia organized a nearby gathering earlier in the day that was supposed to support Smasal’s campaign, but she pulled out at the last minute. The event, featuring military veterans and DPVA chair Susan Swecker, was designed to put Trump on blast for past comments referring to military members killed in action as “suckers” and “losers.”
Representatives from Smasal’s campaign, DPVA and DCCC did not provide comment by the time of this publication as to why Smasal — a Navy veteran — did not attend.
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